Satellite tech company secures £12m contract

Astroscale said it was working on a "groundbreaking mission"

A company that develops technology to service satellites while they are in orbit has secured a £11.78m contract.

Astroscale, based at Harwell Campus in Oxfordshire, will work on The Sunrise Partnership Project, a team-up between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Eutelsat Group, supported by the UK Space Agency.

It aims to develop solutions for maintaining telecommunication satellites for future missions.

As part of this, the company is developing the End-of-Life by Astroscale-Multiple (ELSA-M) in-orbit demonstration, which will launch in 2026.

In a statement, Astroscale described it as "the world’s first commercial end-of-life service for prepared satellites, meaning satellites designed with technologies such as an interface that will enable docking and removal".

It said the "groundbreaking mission", designed and built in Harwell, would improve on its previous demonstrations, which removed debris in orbit, and used a magnetic docking mechanism between two spacecraft.

The new phase includes "flight model assembly, integration and testing, launch and commissioning", through to in-orbit activities, such as successfully docking, de-orbiting, and releasing spacecraft.

Astroscale said it was committed to paving the way "for the future of space sustainability and satellite servicing".

Servicing can include retrieving ageing satellites, capturing and removing space debris, repairing satellites in space, or the surveillance and tracking of objects.

According to the National Space Operations Centre there are more than 9,000 active satellites in orbit, with some predictions suggesting there will be more than 60,000 by 2030.